CryptoLite Virus Removal – Restore .encrypted Files

The CryptoLite Virus is a test release ransomware targeting users on a global scale. The currently released samples of it are probably test versions that may be updated in further iterations. Refer to our in-depth article for a technical analysis and full removal instructions.

Threat Summary

Name	CryptoLite
Type	Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description	The ransomware encrypts sensitive information on your computer system with the .encrypted extensions and demands a ransom to be paid to allegedly recover them.
Symptoms	The ransomware will encrypt your files with a strong encryption algorithm.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by CryptoLite Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss CryptoLite.
Data Recovery Tool	Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive.

CryptoLite Virus – Distribution Ways

The CryptoLite virus is currently being distributed in a test campaign. It is presumed that in the future the hacker or criminal group behind it will utilize several tactics to increase the number of infected hosts.

One of the main methods that can be used is the creation of email phishing campaigns that use the design elements of legitimate web services and sites in order to confuse the victims into interacting with them. The viruses are either directly attached or linked inthe body contents of the message.

The other method relies on the use of fake download sites that pose as legitimate vendor download sites, portals and other services that are frequently accessed by computer users. These two mechanisms are the primary ways to distributed payload carriers, two are the most popular types:

• Documents — The hackers behind the CryptoLine virus can embed macros scripts in various files (rich text documents, spreadsheets, presentations and databases). When they are opened a notification prompt will appear asking the users to enable the built-in scripts. This leads to the virus infection sequence execution.
• Application Installers — The same technique can be applied to software installers of popular applications. They are made by taking the legitimate installers from the official sites and modifying them to include the CryptoLite virus code.

To further increase the number of infected hosts the criminals may also utilize browser hijackers — they represent malicious plugins that are made available for all popular web browsers. They are usually distributed on the associated browser repositories and make use of fake developer credentials and user reviews to advertise them. Their typical behavior is to redirect the victims to a hacker-controlled site, the additional scripts lead to the virus infection.

CryptoLite Virus – In-Depth Analysis

It appears that the CryptoLite virus is not based on code taken from any of the famous ransomware families. It appears that the hacker or criminal collective behind it have either made it from scratch or have acquired a code that has not yet been identified by the current anti-virus and anti-spyware signatures as belonging to one of the already known families.

The captured samples are currently being analyzed and the available reports so far indicate that they are test releases. It is ery possible that the limited distribution campaign is merely used to plot out future attacks that would carry updated samples. The main malicious engine has been found to use a modular approach, this allows the criminals to customize the attacks depending the targets.

The infections can begin with a data harvesting module programmed to harvest sensitive strings. They can be classified into two main groups:

• Private User Information — The engine can be configured to seaerch for strings that can directly expose the identity of the users: their name, address, phone number, location, interests and account credentials.
• Anonymous Metrics — The other type of information that can be harvested by the engine is used to optimize the attacks. It collects information such as the user-set regional options, a report of all hardware devices and certain operating system values.

This data can be processed by the next component in the sequence which can bypass security software. The list includes anti-virus programs, sandbox (debug) environments and virtual machine hosts. Their real-time engines can be bypassed or completely removed, depending on the instructions by the hackers.

After this has been complete the engine can proceed further with system changes. They can be different according to the defined sequence, however in most cases some kind of a Windows Registry modifications is made. They can be against the user-installed applications or the operating system entries themselves. Such changes can result in the inability to start certain functions and the overall performance may degrade.

The CryptoLite virus can be installed as a persistent threat — it will automatically start once the computer boots. Such behavior also interacts with the boot recovery menu by disabling it. This makes it very difficult to employ most manual removal methods.

In certain cases a separate Trojan instance can be set which connects to a hacker-controlled server. This allows the criminals to spy on the victims, overtake control of their machines and deploy additional threats.

CryptoLite Virus — Encryption

Following the succesful execution of all prior components the ransomware engine will be launched. It uses a built-in list of target file data that is encrypted with a strong cipher. An example list includes the following files:

• Images
• Archives
• Documents
• Backups
• Databases
• Music
• Videos

Instead of a ransomware note it uses a lockscreen instance which prohibits ordinary interaction until the threat is completely removed. It reads the following message:

ALL YOUR FILES HAVE BEEN ENCRYPTED!!!
There’s no way to decrypt these files without the decryption key.
To retrieve the deceryption key a payment of 0.5 BC will need to be paid.
INSTRUCTIONS:
*Purchase the bitcoins from https://localbitcoins.com/.
*Transfer the bitcoins to a https://blockchain.info/ Wallet.
*From https://blockchain.info/ transfer the bitcoins to the below address.
*Add a message to the transaction with the following format:
{MAC-ADDRESS_EMAIL} <- ENSURE THIS IS CORRECT Example: 00:A0:C9:14:C8:[email protected] Following payment the key will be emailed to you after confirmation. IF YOU MESS UP YOUR MESSAGE FROMAT, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE THE KEY! BitCoin Address: [1aa5cmqmvQq8YQTEqcTmW7dfBNuFwgdCD] Decryption Key: [***][DECRYPT]

Note! Your computer system may be affected by CryptoLite and other threats.
Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of threats such as CryptoLite.
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

To remove CryptoLite follow these steps:

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove CryptoLite files and objects

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.

For Windows XP, Vista and 7 systems:

1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:

– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.

– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.

3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.

4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account

While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.

Step 1: Open up the Start Menu.

Step 2: Click on the Power button (for Windows 8 it is the little arrow next to the “Shut Down” button) and whilst holding down “Shift” click on Restart.

Step 3: After reboot, a blue menu with options will appear. From them you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: From the Startup Settings menu, click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You can choose any of the three Safe Mode options by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.

2. Find files created by CryptoLite on your PC

Find files created by CryptoLite

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

Step 1:

On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

Step 2:

Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

Step 3:

Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

Step 1:

Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

Step 2:

After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Step 3:

After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs

3. Scan for malware and unwanted programs with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Scan your PC and Remove CryptoLite with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for CryptoLite and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove CryptoLite. Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.

Step 1: Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.

Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

4. Try to Restore files encrypted by CryptoLite

Try to Restore Files Encrypted by CryptoLite

Ransomware infections and CryptoLite aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested several alternative methods that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that these methods may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.

Method 1: Scanning your drive’s sectors by using Data Recovery software.
Another method for restoring your files is by trying to bring back your files via data recovery software. Here are some suggestions for preferred data recovery software solutions:

• Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery Technicians License(Pro version with more features)
• Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery
• Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery

Method 2: Trying Kaspersky and EmsiSoft’s decryptors.
If the first method does not work, we suggest trying to use decryptors for other ransomware viruses, in case your virus is a variant of them. The two primary developers of decryptors are Kaspersky and EmsiSoft, links to which we have provided below:

• Kaspersky Decryptors
• Emsisoft Decryptors

Method 3: Using Shadow Explorer

To restore your data in case you have backup set up, it is important to check for Volume Shadow Copies, if ransomware has not deleted them, in Windows using the below software:

• Shadow Explorer

Method 4: Finding the decryption key while the cryptovirus sends it over a network via a sniffing tool.

Another way to decrypt the files is by using a Network Sniffer to get the encryption key, while files are encrypted on your system. A Network Sniffer is a program and/or device monitoring data traveling over a network, such as its internet traffic and internet packets. If you have a sniffer set before the attack happened you might get information about the decryption key. See how-to instructions below:

Instructions on How to Find Decryption Key for Files Encrypted By Ransowmare

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

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Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

More Posts

Follow Me: